M5.9 earthquake 130 km SW of Padang, Indonesia

Wednesday, October 10, 2007, 00:19:16 UTC · 1.735°S, 99.480°E

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 130 km SW of Padang, Indonesia on Wednesday, October 10, 2007, 00:19:16 UTC, at a depth of 27.3 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.1 on September 26, 2007.

Magnitude: 5.9; Moderate · mwb
Depth: 27 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: V; Moderate (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

11 kilotons of TNT

That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 22 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

119 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: shallow

27 km

Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.

Did You Feel It?

Where it was felt

No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.

I felt it — report to USGS ↗

USGS PAGER estimate

Who was exposed to shaking

USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.

After the main event

Aftershocks within 75 km

USGS lists 7 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.8 on October 23, 2007. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 366 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 23 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,518 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1861M8.5
Lagundi, Simuk, Tello I
16 Feb 1861 · 235 km away · intensity IX
1,105 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1861M7.0
Sw. Sumatra
9 Mar 1861 · 254 km away
950 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1797M8.0
Sw. Sumatra
10 Feb 1797 · 200 km away · intensity IX
300 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1995M6.8
Sumatera, Jambi Province
6 Oct 1995 · 220 km away
84 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
2007M6.4
Sumatra: Southern
6 Mar 2007 · 179 km away · intensity VIII
67 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
2006M5.8
Sumatera: Northern, Muarasipongi
17 Dec 2006 · 266 km away
7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers